Best Top Romance Novels of All Time

The list is compliled from Amazons Bestsellers in Romance for the peoples view, from Romance Readers Top 100 Romance Novels for a Criteque View, And from the Best books From last 10 years lists. Each book has been rated at least 4 star by at least 75 readers.
1

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4.29 avg rating — 4,508,231 ratings
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2

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4.26 avg rating — 1,114,752 ratings
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3

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4.15 avg rating — 2,215,021 ratings
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4

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4.31 avg rating — 1,246,837 ratings
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5

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4.09 avg rating — 1,244,695 ratings
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6

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4.16 avg rating — 1,781,720 ratings
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7

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4.15 avg rating — 737,499 ratings
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8

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4.34 avg rating — 372,557 ratings
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9

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4.39 avg rating — 321,013 ratings
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10

by
4.29 avg rating — 17,260 ratings
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11

by
4.11 avg rating — 37,921 ratings
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12

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4.20 avg rating — 55,098 ratings
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13

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4.33 avg rating — 29,075 ratings
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14

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4.16 avg rating — 14,114 ratings
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15

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4.17 avg rating — 8,914 ratings
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16

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3.94 avg rating — 13,204 ratings
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17

by
3.99 avg rating — 14,604 ratings
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18

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4.40 avg rating — 4,136 ratings
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19

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4.27 avg rating — 924,520 ratings
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20

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4.62 avg rating — 9,940 ratings
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21

by
4.20 avg rating — 37,641 ratings
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22

by
4.18 avg rating — 51,420 ratings
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23

by
4.49 avg rating — 2,484 ratings
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24

by
4.25 avg rating — 112,857 ratings
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25

by
4.08 avg rating — 38,598 ratings
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26

by
3.81 avg rating — 22,583 ratings
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27

by
4.21 avg rating — 94,187 ratings
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28

by
4.21 avg rating — 235,462 ratings
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29

by
4.04 avg rating — 65,639 ratings
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30

by
4.23 avg rating — 68,758 ratings
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31

by
4.30 avg rating — 35,949 ratings
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32

by
3.79 avg rating — 636,633 ratings
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33

by
4.36 avg rating — 4,171 ratings
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34

by
4.07 avg rating — 22,057 ratings
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35

by
4.04 avg rating — 43,223 ratings
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36

by
4.07 avg rating — 16,934 ratings
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37

by
4.04 avg rating — 39,297 ratings
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38

by
4.43 avg rating — 184,674 ratings
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39

by
4.23 avg rating — 33,818 ratings
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40

by
4.17 avg rating — 28,182 ratings
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41

by
4.17 avg rating — 67,681 ratings
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42

by
4.29 avg rating — 90,702 ratings
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43

by
4.25 avg rating — 55,023 ratings
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44

by
4.16 avg rating — 45,996 ratings
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45

by
3.88 avg rating — 398,814 ratings
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46

by
4.13 avg rating — 22,952 ratings
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47

by
4.14 avg rating — 46,149 ratings
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48

by
4.02 avg rating — 1,137 ratings
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49

by
4.32 avg rating — 197,424 ratings
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50

by
4.25 avg rating — 676,593 ratings
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51

by
4.30 avg rating — 24,953 ratings
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52

by
4.31 avg rating — 966,184 ratings
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53

by
4.19 avg rating — 23,757 ratings
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54

by
4.03 avg rating — 19,872 ratings
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55

by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 68,432 ratings
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56

by
4.32 avg rating — 1,051,530 ratings
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57

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really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 450,650 ratings
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58

by
4.10 avg rating — 69,552 ratings
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59

by
3.90 avg rating — 1,918,223 ratings
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60

by
4.13 avg rating — 19,929 ratings
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61

by
4.15 avg rating — 12,781 ratings
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62

by
4.20 avg rating — 51,755 ratings
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63

by
4.05 avg rating — 46,228 ratings
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64

by
4.16 avg rating — 35,773 ratings
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65

by
4.17 avg rating — 34,851 ratings
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66

by
4.19 avg rating — 12,598 ratings
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67

by
4.16 avg rating — 18,500 ratings
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68

by
4.11 avg rating — 19,074 ratings
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69

by
4.04 avg rating — 19,976 ratings
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70

by
4.33 avg rating — 37,475 ratings
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71

by
4.26 avg rating — 29,491 ratings
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72

by
4.22 avg rating — 31,582 ratings
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73

by
4.23 avg rating — 16,842 ratings
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74

by
4.04 avg rating — 45,350 ratings
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75

by
4.15 avg rating — 176,868 ratings
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76

by
3.98 avg rating — 160,037 ratings
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77

by
3.96 avg rating — 460,136 ratings
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78

by
4.02 avg rating — 58,298 ratings
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79

by
4.34 avg rating — 796,160 ratings
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80

by
4.20 avg rating — 829,978 ratings
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81

by
4.11 avg rating — 15,995 ratings
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82

by
3.74 avg rating — 2,721,544 ratings
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83

by
4.05 avg rating — 931,161 ratings
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84

by
3.95 avg rating — 24,310 ratings
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85

by
4.51 avg rating — 349,819 ratings
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86

by
4.23 avg rating — 76,575 ratings
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87

by
4.04 avg rating — 8,056 ratings
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88

by
4.05 avg rating — 26,689 ratings
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89

by
3.95 avg rating — 32,601 ratings
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90

by
3.93 avg rating — 1,222,756 ratings
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91

by
4.23 avg rating — 62,847 ratings
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92

by
4.18 avg rating — 24,854 ratings
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93

by
4.18 avg rating — 40,116 ratings
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94

by
4.07 avg rating — 23,168 ratings
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95

by
3.99 avg rating — 238,132 ratings
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96

by
4.27 avg rating — 15,960 ratings
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97

by
4.02 avg rating — 26,455 ratings
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98

by
4.08 avg rating — 228,312 ratings
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99

by
4.15 avg rating — 5,387 ratings
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100

by
4.16 avg rating — 345,226 ratings
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665 books · 1,590 voters · list created May 5th, 2011 by Sandil (votes) .
182 likes · 
Lists are re-scored approximately every 5 minutes.


Sandil 8 books
1 friend
Laura 3903 books
1 friend
Kelli 1913 books
72 friends
Mar 191 books
35 friends
Emery 677 books
1299 friends
Bma 8 books
28 friends
Julie 358 books
172 friends
Krissi 1278 books
28 friends

More voters…


Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)

dateDown arrow    newest »

message 1: by Sunny☼ (new)

Sunny☼ Librarians, I need you help please. Could you remove all books from this list that do not meet the criteria.

ie. books with less than 3.9 stars and rated by at least 75 readers? Too many not meeting this have been added.

Also please remove the duplicates.


message 2: by Sandil (new)

Sandil Thank you Sunny. That has bothered me for way too long. I didn't know how to fix it.

Please librarians Delete all books not conforming to the star and to the reader requirements for this list and duplicate entries.


message 3: by Donna (new)

Donna Davis Found and deleted: 7 duplicates.

The criteria create a real obstacle for anyone wanting to add a recently published book. I know that the list maker is supposed to be able to set the standard, but a lot of our more recent lists are designed to be finite. I think I am going to decline to help enforce this one. Let the paid staff deal with it. This small rebellion is one of the only perks of being a volunteer librarian.


message 4: by Sunny☼ (new)

Sunny☼ LOL, Thank you Donna for your help with duplicates. I understand your POV for other requests.


message 5: by Matt (new)

Matt where's silvia day?


message 6: by Brodyn (new)

Brodyn and age of innocence ( Pulitzer prize winner ) is far far better than pride and prejudice should be at the top.


BookLovingLady (deceased Jan. 25, 2023...) Brodyn wrote: "and age of innocence ( Pulitzer prize winner ) is far far better than pride and prejudice should be at the top."

Isn't that just a matter of opinion?


message 8: by Pat (new)

Pat Gorely Where is "Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby, and Forever Amber"?? Some on this list I dont even consider romance, like Pillars of the Earth, which I would consider more of historical novel spanning a lifetime


message 9: by Sara (last edited Apr 14, 2019 01:00PM) (new)

Sara Can someone please explain to me why in the world "Gone with the Wind," "Jane Eyre," "The Notebook," "The Princess Bride," "Rebecca," "The Count of Monte Cristo," any of the "Anne of Green Gables" books, "Pillars of the Earth," or "The Thorn Birds" are considered "romance novels?"

The RWA defines romances as this:

Two basic elements comprise every romance novel: a central love story and an emotionally satisfying and optimistic ending.

A Central Love Story: The main plot centers around individuals falling in love and struggling to make the relationship work. A writer can include as many subplots as he/she wants as long as the love story is the main focus of the novel.

An Emotionally Satisfying and Optimistic Ending: In a romance, the lovers who risk and struggle for each other and their relationship are rewarded with emotional justice and unconditional love.

Exactly none of the books above qualify for that. If you take the love stories out of the books above, most of them still function just fine with the plot in tact. And the ones that have unhappy endings do not qualify as romance novels because that is one of the staples of romance novels. Just because a book has a "love story" does not mean it is a "romance novel." They are two separate things, and it really bothers me when they are put together. It is one of my pet peeves, and it slowly driving me crazy to see how often books that just happen to have strong love stories but otherwise aren't romance novels are thrown in with romance novels.


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